The Bracelet
by Rirureddo
Summary: After the battle with the FinalHazard, Rouge The Bat came into possession of an important item that belonged to Shadow The Hedgehog. And after holding onto it for a long while, the time has finally come for her to return it to him.


_**~The Bracelet~**_

It was a late peaceful evening in the Night Babylon section of Station Square and inside Club Rouge, Rouge The Bat let out a content stretch as she relaxed in her bathtub, relishing in the hot water she was submerged in and taking in the strawberry scent of the bubbles that surrounded her.

"Mmm, this is just what I needed," she said after finishing her stretch and crossing her long shapely legs on the edge of the tub. "Especially after the long week me and the boys had."

True to her words, she and her Team Dark temmates as well as fellow GUN agents Shadow The Hedgehog and E-123 Omega spent the entire week executing a shadow operation to bring down a terrorist group, and successfully managed to do so. After accomplishing their mission and brining the terrorists to justice, they returned home for much needed, and very well earned, rest and relaxation. While Shadow and Omega were in the living room, Rouge decided to ease her sore muscles by taking a bath.

Picking up a bar of soap, Rouge began to run it over every inch of her body, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment. "This feels so good...Reminds me of the long bath I had after the Space Colony Ark incident..."

Memories of those days came back to the bat as she continued to wash her body. Her neverending search for the pieces of the Master Emerald, infiltrating the Ark and aligning herself with Dr. Eggman under orders from GUN, and meeting Shadow for the first time.

Rouge chuckled as she rinsed her body and began to let the water out of the tub. "When I first met that hedgehog, it was simply business," she said as she stood out of the tub, picking up a towel and beginning to dry herself off. "Who would've thought that he and I would be where we are now? As close as we are?"

As she dried her hair, Rouge walked past the mirror in her bathroom and stopped to admire herself. "Heh, you're sure looking good girl!" she said while placing a hand behind her head, striking a pose, and winking.

While looking at her reflection, Rouge suddenly remembered another memory of days past.

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><p><em><strong>~Flashback~<strong>_

_Rouge let out a deep sigh as she looked out the large window of the Space Colony Ark and down at Earth below her. It wasn't too long ago that she thought she wasn't going to see the planet again, let alone still be alive. But it was thanks to the heroics of everyone on board the Ark that they prevented the destruction of Earth. However, the price of victory was a steep one._

_Hearing footsteps behind her, Rouge looked in the window and saw Knuckles The Echidna approaching her from behind. She wondered what he wanted as he came to a stop beside her and scratched the back of his head._

_"So what's next for you, Rouge?" he asked, turning to face her. "Off again to find more of those jewels you love so much?"_

_Rouge was a bit surprised that he was actually trying to have a civil conversation with her. "Naw, I think I'm gonna give up this line of work," she answered, looking back out the window. "Too much work for too little pay." Her face softened as something else came to her mind. "Anyways..." she reached into her pocket and took out a gold ring that Sonic The Hedgehog had given her upon is return to the Ark after he and Shadow defeated the Finalhazard. "I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now..."_

_**~End Flashback~**_

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><p>"And I held onto it this whole time..." Rouge said softly as she came back to reality. "It's been so long. Where does the time go?"<p>

After finishing drying, she exited her bathroom and entered her bedroom, putting on the silk robe she had laying on her bed. Then she kneeled down and reached under her bed.

"Where is it, where is it?" she asked out loud before her hand felt something a couple seconds later. "Ah, there you are!"

Pulling her hand back, Rouge pulled out a small chest that had some dust gathered on it. Blowing the dust off, she stood up and sat on the bed with the chest on her lap. "Heh, you sure were under there for a while, huh?"

It was then that she heard a knock on her bedroom door, snapping her from her thoughts. "Who is it?"

"It's me Rouge."

A smile came to her face as she heard the voice. _ 'Wow, what great timing.' _"Come on in Shadow! The door's open!"

The door opened and Shadow walked inside the room, wearing black cargo shorts along with a black tank top.

"Hey there Shadow," Rouge greeted, her smile still on her face as she saw her friend.

The hedgehog closed Rouge's door behind him and acknowledged her with a nod of his head. "Rouge."

Rouge couldn't help but chuckle at his short response. "You alright? It's a bit late and I thought you may have already been asleep."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, putting his hands in his pockets as he spoke. "Just wanted to come check on you before I called it a night myself."

"Aww, thanks Shadow," said Rouge, her smile growing. "I'm okay. Thanks for caring. How's Omega?"

"He just put himself into stand-by mode."

"Ah okay," said Rouge. "He deserves as good a rest as we do after all the work we put in. Oh, it's a good thing you're here. I actually have something for you."

That caught Shadow's attention. "Something for me? What is it?"

"Come on over and have a seat."

It was then that Shadow saw the small chest that Rouge had on her lap and he grew curious as he walked over to her bed and sat down beside her. "So, what's this about?"

Rouge fiddled with her fingers a bit while her hands rested on the chest. "Well Shadow...I have something that belongs to you. Something that I've kept safe for a while now. And I figured that now was as good a time as any for me to return it to you." Picking up the chest, she held it out to him.

"What's this?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow as he eyed the box.

"Open it and find out."

His curiosity growing, Shadow looked at the box a bit longer before opening it, his eyes widening as he saw the content of it - a familiar looking golden ring. "This...This is my..."

"Yeah," said Rouge as she looked at the ring as well. " It's your bracelet. The very same one you had when I first met you. The same one you lost during your and Sonic's battle with the prototype of the Ultimate Life Form."

Shadow looked from the ring to Rouge and then back down at it, slowly running his hand over it. "I remember it coming off my wrist when Sonic and I used Chaos Control to stop the Ark. Hmm, so he took it and gave it to you, did he?"

Rouge nodded. "He did. Honestly, there's a reason I held onto it for as long as I did."

Shadow once again looked over at her, wondering what she was talking about. "And that reason would be?"

Rouge took a deep breath before she continued to speak. "I know at the time you and I hadn't known each other long at all. And to be honest, my job wasn't to make any friends in the first place. All I wanted was to complete my mission as well as take home tha Master Emerald as a bonus." She looked up at the hedgehog with a soft gaze in her aqua eyes. "But, despite that, it didn't stop me from growing to care about your well-being as an ally. And when we all thought you died, I have to say it hit me quite hard. The truth is, part of me truly believed that somehow, someway you were still alive. So I held onto your bracelet and hoped and prayed that you were alive so that I'd be able to return it to you."

Shadow, needless to say, was shocked and it took a couple seconds for him to find his voice. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I do," she answered.

Shadow played her words over again in his head and they began to sink in, making him see just how much Rouge and her words meant. "Thank you Rouge," he said in a soft tone. "That means so much to me."

"You're welcome," Rouge answered with a smile.

Shadow looked back at her, saw her smile, and it made him think of something he hadn't thought of in a long time, fifty years to be exact. "I truly do appreciate the fact that you held onto this and wanted to return it to me," he began. "But I want you to do me a favor."

"Sure, anything," said Rouge, instantly interested and curious to what he was going to say. "What?"

Shadow turned so that he was facing her and giving her his full undivided attention, as well as taking the bracelet out of the chest. "I want you to have this."

Rouge's eyes widened in complete shock. She wasn't expecting to hear that at all. "W-What? You're giving it to me, and just after I gave it back to you? Why?"

It took Shadow little time to find his next words as he began to speak from his heart, something he rarely ever did. "Since being awakened by you back inside the doctor's base, and with your help remembering a lot about my past, I can honestly say that if it weren't for you I don't know where I'd be right now. Most likely just an empty shell with fabricated memories." He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing while taking one of her hands into his. "But it was because of you that I've become who I am today. Not since Maria have I known anyone who I can call a true friend." He gently slid the bracelet onto her wrist and placed his free hand on it afterwards. "And as a token and symbol of our friendship, I'd like for you to keep this. It looks better on you than it did on me anyways."

Rouge's eyes went glossy after he finished speaking and she looked down at the bracelet before turing back to Shadow and doing the first thing that came to her mind - wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a gentle hug. "Thank you Shadow...Thank you so much..." she whispered, tightening her hold on him. "I promise you that I'll cherish it, always..."

Shadow said nothing back as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back. For a couple minutes, the two of them sat in silence, holding each other and enjoying the moment until Shadow heard a soft sigh come from Rouge. "As you said before, its gotten rather late. You tired?

"Yeah, I am," Rouge answered, her head still on his shoulder.

"Alright," Shadow said, reluctantly pulling back from the hug. "Let's get you tucked in."

Rouge nodded and stood up off the bed as Shadow pulled her covers and sheets back for her, allowing her to lay down on the mattress and be covered up with them by him afterwards.

"Thanks Shadow," she said, smiling up at him and getting comfortable in the bed.

"No problem Rouge," Shadow responded as he tucked her in. "Get as much sleep and rest as you'd like and Omega and I will see you in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan," she said, grinning. "Maybe we can get a good breakfast cooked up for the first time in a long while."

Shadow's signature smirk came to his face. "Looking forward to it."

Rouge smirked and winked back before yawning once more and snuggling more into the bed. "Goodnight Shadow, and sweet dreams."

Shadow walked over to her and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Goodnight to you too Rouge." He watched as Rouge's eyes slowly fluttered shut before taking his leave from her room, opening and closing the door as quietly as he could and making his way back to the living room.

After Shadow had left, Rouge opened her eyes lifted her wrist up from under the covers, looking at the bracelet she'd kept for so long for Shadow, but now was her own. It was more than just a piece of jewelry that belong to Shadow. It meant so much more now.

"Shadow..." she said softly, her smile coming back to her face. "You sure are something special..."

She lifted the bracelet to her lips and gently kissed it before holding it to her chest as sleep overcame her, her smile still present on her face.

_**~The End~**_

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><p><em><strong>~Author's Note~<strong>_

_**It sure does feel good to get back to writing and I couldn't have asked for a better way to get back into writing than by writing a story for my good friend Bloodrayne666! Thank you so much for being an amazing friend and I hope you, as well as everyone else, enjoyed it! Until next time my fellow readers and authors, later, happy reading, and Happy New Year!**_


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